I love your son's response, that's AWESOME! My favorite quote, I think I'll add it to my sig line is
"Children behave as well as they are treated" it's SOOOOOOOOOOO true. I don't spank, but I have that on my refrigerator and my my computer monitor to remind me that every day.
I used to spank occasionally many years ago, and I realized very quickly that it didn't work and I hated the guilt I felt doing it. I used to get criticized for *not* spanking so much that it led me to spank because I felt like I wasn't disciplining them good enough (as a first time mom I felt inadequate and didn't have the confidence in my own maternal instincts and beliefs then) but I don't let ANYONE influence the way I raise my children anymore which is why now I pretty much do EVERYTHING outside the mainstream.
A friend of mine said she spanks because it "gets the job done" and it immediately makes her child stop what he is doing wrong. And I said to her, "Tying your child to his bed would keep him from getting up and 'get the job done', but that doesn't necessarily mean that is the healthiest way to handle the situation and won't cause long-term effects" She didn't even get my point.
::sigh::